With a Superman-like "S" hanging on their backs, the four seniors of the women's swimming and diving team posed together for one last picture in front of family and friends on Sunday at McCoy Natatorium.

While the "S" on their newly received jackets stood for Penn State, it does tell of the type of effort the class of 2003 made in building the program into Big Ten champions last year, putting the No. 20 Penn State Nittany Lions on the map nationally.

Like a good superhero, these four seniors have survived while watching nine other classmates decide to sink rather than swim on. Senior Susan Janoski said that the fact that this group of girls, which also includes seniors Katie Hostetler, Lindsey Wilson and captain Jaime Ryan, managed to make it through made Sunday's senior day against West Chester even more special.

"[Senior day was] definitely sad because it was our last meet but it was also exciting because we made it through together," Janoski said.

Not only have these four girls survived, they have thrived.

The seniors have helped lead of a group of swimmers that have improved every year since the Nittany Lions' last-place finish in the Big Ten five years ago, culminating in last year's championship, the first ever for women's swimming.

Penn State swimming and diving coach Bill Dorenkott said, however, that the intangibles of these four seniors could not always be measured by the scoreboard or race times.

"People that are within the program right now are probably going to be able to assess [the effect the seniors had on the program] a little bit better in terms of ... things that cannot be measured on the scoreboard," Dorenkott said. "My sense is that this group will leave an indelible mark on the program."

Each girl will leave her own unique impression on the program, starting with Ryan, who is a team leader and is doing some of the best swimming of her career this season.

Hostetler, as she has done in each of her first three years, will likely qualify for the NCAAs this season.

Wilson has been a three-time Academic All-Big Ten and two-time Academic All-American swimmer and is, according to Dorenkott, "one of the greatest success stories in our program's history."

Janoski was an unheralded high school swimmer who placed in the top eight last year in her first trip to NCAAs for backstroke. On Sunday, the women left their final mark on McCoy Natatorium, going out in style as Wilson won the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley, Hostetler sprinted to the 50-yard freestyle title and Ryan cruised in the 500-yard freestyle as the Lions defeated West Chester University 147-84.

When asked to describe the senior class of swimmers, Ryan said they were "determined and courageous because they had been through so much."

Sounds like a good set of traits for a group of superheroes, or at least senior swimmers.